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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Back! And even a day early. Oh, goodness, though. This draft remained empty for quite some time. What tip could I possibly offer? You've probably figured out by now I blog just to figure things out. I don't HAVE THEM figured out already. Nope. Not by a long shot.

I wish!

So we'll go with very simple.

Create a Goodreads or Shelfari or ... there's another one I cannot remember the name of. Anyway. Even if you don't blog it will help you keep track of your reading and books you WANT to read. And bonus ... electronic! As long as you remember your login (HA!) you can get at it anywhere. I am forever leaving notebooks in NOT the place I need them at the time. Tags can help you keep it organized for personal reading and professional reading and what you read with which grade.

Learn how to create Google Forms. They are awesome for gathering data on any number of library related topics (check out Carolyn's Library Surveys packet for some ideas! Why I love TPT ... when other people create things I can spend my time elsewhere!) or for submitting book requests or for tracking student visits. All without ever having to add up tic marks from any piece of paper that you might have misplaced. Once you get good there are loads of other uses but that is a management start. ;)

This one is timely as our district is really pushing a BIG weed. Like ... thousands of books. Smaller and more relevant and to open up space in the library for more collaborative activities and fewer shelves. Last week I worked on the 700s through 900s. This is one way to think about it that helped.

Don't need nearly so many of the old "craft" books because hello. Internet. Though I still have questions about poetry. And I discarded some really old books on Native Americans that I should have gotten rid of years ago. They weren't terrible but they weren't great. Only ... how does one decide what to replace? No one's complained about them because no one's actually used them in years. Can we find enough age appropriate stuff online? Probably. But I still wondered a bit if I was doing the right thing.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

I'm back again for an unplanned Finally Friday. (Hey! Next week is May! Blogging resumes ... at least more than this month. We'll see how much. ;))

Today was super strange. Due to an anonymous email threat of "mass violence" at an unnamed elementary school (TV has given me a very skewed sense of how hard it is to track down something like that ... law enforcement deemed it "not credible" but no announcements of arrests yet) over 300 of our 740 or so kiddos were absent. And that was the story at most schools in the area. Very strange. But luckily ... VERY QUIET. Nothing happened. Safest day of the year, actually. So. We had high stakes testing on T/W. Weirdness today. And NO SCHOOL TOMORROW (already planned ... we get it off every year for a city parade). In this day and age ... it's a crazy world out there. Never pass up the chance to tell someone you love them. And all that.

I gave make up tests in the morning (cause ... this same week ... nasty stomach bug hit a lot of kiddos. So why was one that I saw in the nurse's office yesterday with vomit all over pants back in school today? FUN TIMES. Aren't you glad I share?) and then since classes were combined and in odd places (they brought the portable classes inside) not a lot of library action. Did a lot of weeding in the 700-990s ... areas that really needed it but didn't always get it because hey, they are the major part of our major hallway and usually it's too crowded to get much time out there). My lungs will never be the same. Washing my hands every shelf they were so grey. Can't wash lungs. :P BLECH.

I do enjoy a good upcycle project. I also enjoy soda. Which is bad for you. :P

Funny!

Star Wars Day is coming up! My email inbox is full of messages from companies wanting me to buy things. That I want to buy.

We've been playing around with Aurasma and it is pretty fun. And remarkably not that hard. Time to bring it up a notch.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.

This is what I finished.

I LOVED the SW references in The Accidental Keyhand. A couple parts were a bit confusing but as a whole I enjoyed it a lot.
Zane ... was hard to read. But in an interesting way ... what those who lived through it saw! Wow. In this day and age and right here in the US.
Architecture ... could have been really awesome but I found it so so.

And this is what I am currently reading.

So far I am most excited about The Book of Secrets but we'll see.
Click on the pics to go to Goodreads and get more info on a particular title.

Last week was our school's 50th anniversary. Craziness! This week is testing again. More craziness. :/ But THEN finally we can get back to the business of learning!

Friday, April 18, 2014

Been like ... crickets around here, no? Hope you have had a great week. I have a three day weekend today and next week (Good Friday and Battle of the Flowers--that one's local ;)).
Thank you for the kind words about the big time slow down of posts this month. Didn't answer because I was kind of embarrassed. But that is silly, no?

Yesterday we had a parade for our school's 50th anniversary. This is a photo from the district FB album of me feeling highly out of place. Ignore the ... pounds that need to be lost again. AGAIN. :P

Anyway. Here's what I've been liking on Pinterest. I'll be back next week for #IMWAYR (It's Monday, What Are You Reading?).
Thank you for sticking around.

As much as I'm not really a fan of his books anymore ... this is true!

How tasty does this look? And I don't say that lightly as veggies ... don't always look tasty.

Coming up with the right data to visualize is the hard part.

I put this one on Pinterest but we'll just embed the video here. Yet another version but who cares? It's a catchy song. (Though the makeup is a little ... discombobulating. On him and the two young highlighted singers. They sound great, though.)

Monday, April 14, 2014

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.

Of course I planned to read more than I actually finished. That always happened. But I did quite enjoy the two picture books I'm going to share this time round.

Both were so fun! Lost for Words would be great as a motivator to students who might be struggling to find their writing voice. Then Duck & Goose are just the cutest things ever. Kind of sickening how cute they are. Plus the story that could be interpreted a bit philosophically if one wanted to. Don't be afraid to go on adventures!

Happy Easter. It's the most comforting thing I know ... that He is Risen.

Monday, April 7, 2014

Easier to do when you're home sick (strep throat, of all the ridiculously painful things :/). You regular posters no matter what ... you are blog rock stars.

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now… who knows, you might discover that next “must read” book!

GREAT IDEA! Check out all of the What Are You Reading? participants for title ideas.

Click on the pic to go to my shelf on Goodreads for a little more info. Not a lot (didn't write much of my own commentary on these) but at least for the summaries. In order of favorites it was 3, 4, 1, 2.

One YA, two adult (I know ... this is a kid lit blog linky!), and one picture. Not my usual.
(Ironic funniest line in Death on Blackheath ... "I think at the heart of it she is very aware that she will soon be forty and a part of life is slipping out of her grasp" (107). Not quite 7 weeks, internet. Not quite 7 weeks. :P

Currently

It's taking me a while (lots of distractions and electronic ARCS just always take me longer ... even when I love them books that are due at the library seem to get finished first!) Didn't even add Ungifted to this list that I am currently reading in e-form. I do love my Kindle. I can carry it anywhere. But since those books aren't falling off of tables or overflowing baskets or crammed into shelves? There again. Last place even when I am enjoying them.

Here are some lines I am loving from Ninjas so far.

"Nothing you choose to practice long and hard is ever a waste of time."
"'It's a line from Star Wars,' said Dorrie, glancing guiltily at Mr. Kornberger as he flipped through the script looking confused. 'He likes to slip them in whenever possible.'"
"Because lybrarians, at least the ones we train, are doing more than it looks like they're doing." (I agree!)
"A properly rained lybrarian is one of the most fearless and fearsome beings in the world." (This is me agreeing again! Well. Wanna be agreeing, anyway. ;))
"They're wonderful at finding out things and slipping around undetected and getting the right information into the right hands."
"This is the gymnasium, where the lybrarians learn their combat skills. In case they hit a brick wall with the research and stealth. And only for defensive use."
"I've got a baaaad feeling about this, Chewie."
"The ancient architect, Vitruvius, advises that all libraries should face east for the benefit of early risers." (This is me saying ... ummmm ... early? I used to do early. Not anymore. :P)

What I don't love? The oft-spelling "lybrarians." Not sure of it's real purpose and my word, doesn't the word get misspelled in other ways often enough?

But still. Loads of fun so far. I do want to finish it today. And since I am still avoiding the NINE out of town family members that were already on their way for a visit when I started getting sick Thursday afternoon ... I may have time. I hate that I have missed so much but I would HATE MORE to hear that one of them got sick. Three adults. Six kids ... 12, 9, 8, 6, 2.5, 6 months. It would not be good. No baby snuggling this visit. :( :( :(

And Snicker ... what am I missing? Everyone else seemed to love it so. That one is more than just I have been a TERRIBLE gym go-er (where I usually listened to audiobooks). I think I might have enjoyed it more in print form. I need my audio to be more plot drive and less vocabulary driven.

So after Ninjas ... probably then Expeditioners. Zane and the Hurricane. Or Aquifer. Or Hold Fast. If I get that far. Missed Friday afternoon (shouldn't have gone to work on Friday but ... I was giving a standardized test that morning :X) and after the urgent care visit on Saturday they said to stay out of public places through today so I will be behind. Again. And there is so much to do!

See you next week!

PS For anyone who follows me on Twitter and noticed retweets ... my church had a big conference this weekend. When I was awake I enjoyed it. Great thoughts. My Twitter feed is not usually like that.